A position within a group, sequence, or series. Also:
A slot is a position on a reel in a mechanical slot machine. The slot can be lined up with the symbol that pays highest, or it can be occupied by a wild or other special symbol. In some modern video slots, the symbols can also appear on multiple reels at once and can be arranged in different combinations. The pay table is a key to understanding how a slot works and how the winnings are calculated. It can be found by pressing a ‘help’ or “i” button on the touch screens or asking a slot attendant for assistance.
Charles Fey’s invention of the slot machine in 1887 improved on Sittman and Pitt’s earlier machines. His machine allowed automatic payouts and had three reels, making it easier to win. Fey replaced the poker symbols with more easily identifiable ones like hearts, diamonds, horseshoes, and liberty bells. He also added a bonus round in which players could choose from several items to reveal credits.
The odds of hitting a particular combination on a slot machine are determined by a random-number generator. The RNG records dozens of numbers every millisecond and picks out the best one to match the symbols in the machine. When a player presses a button or pulls the handle, that signal is recorded by the computer and the reels stop at the resulting combination. The next time the machine receives a signal, it will select a new set of numbers.